The roller coaster from Casino Pier sits in the ocean in Seaside Heights on Oct. 30, 2012 — the day after Hurricane Sandy landed. John Seneca, Rutgers University economics professor, said Thursday that storms such as Hurricane Sandy were increasing global awareness of climate change.

David Gard/The Star-Ledger

MORRISTOWN — Any serious climate change discussion needs to take into account how much proposed changes in regulation and technology would cost, said Joseph Seneca, a Rutgers University economics professor, during a lecture at the Great Swamp Watershed Association Thursday.

"Prices and costs matter," Seneca said.

As part of a breakfast briefing series at the Great Swamp Watershed
Association, Seneca told the early-morning audience that any serious discussion about climate change with economic powerhouses such as China and India, which are heavily reliant on fossil fuels, needed to factor in equity and fairness.

"We (industrialized nations) wrecked the climate in the last
century," Seneca said. "Now you (developing nations) have to help us clean it up. That's a tough argument to make
internationally."

According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, human activities have released large amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere over the past century, which has increased Earth's average temperature by 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit over the past 100 years. The EPA estimates the planet's temperature is projected to rise another 2 to 11.5 degrees Fahrenheit. Small changes in the global climate have been linked to major changes in temperature, precipitation and wind patterns over several decades, according to the EPA.

Seneca said events such as Hurricane Sandy had increased public perception about climate change.

"With
the frequency and severity of storms nationally, climate change is
increasingly penetrating the global consciousness," Seneca said.
"Governments, unfortunately, require crises to do things, but this may
give a spark to a national impetus to seriously tackle climate change."

In 2009, an estimated 20.1 million gigawatt hours were generated globally by a variety of means: 40 percent by coal and peat; 21 percent by natural gas; 17 percent by hydrological means; 14 percent by nuclear reaction; 5 percent by oil; and 3 percent by other methods, according to the International Energy Agency.

Based on population, the United States
has the highest emissions track records in the industrialized world, according to John Seneca,
Rutgers University economics professor. Courtesy of John Seneca

Overall, China is the largest producer of carbon emissions in the world at 24 percent of global emissions, but the United States, at 17 percent of global carbon emissions, leads the pack in terms of carbon emissions per person, Seneca said.

According to the presentation, economies with the highest carbon emissions also tended to have
the most robust economies due in part to industry associated with the
use of fossil fuels.

Among the largest economies, only the European Union has taken strict measures to reduce their carbon emissions, Seneca said. China, he said, has pledged to reduce "carbon intensity" in certain areas instead of overall emissions.

Meanwhile the United States, which initially signed but never ratified — and later withdrew completely from — the Kyoto Protocol, pledging stricter reductions in carbon emissions, has stated a goal of 17 percent reduction in carbon emissions based on 2005 levels, Seneca said. The goal has not been legislated, he added.

Seneca said a three-prong strategy advocated by the United Nations needed to be adopted to address climate change: mitigation, adaptation and financing.

Seneca said a combination of emission reductions and adapting to a changing climate through revised construction methods and standards appeared to be a more cost effective solution rather than simply trying to prevent emissions.

By increasing subsidies on specific technology, such as solar, and creating carbon tax penalties for technology with a higher carbon footprint, Seneca said governments could help make technologies with a lower carbon footprint more competitive with the most popular methods of electricity generation. Additionally, direct grants and financing for environmentally-friendly technologies administered internationally could entice countries to pursue technology with a lower carbon footprint, he said.

The
breakfast briefing series, which focuses on environmental issues
impacting the Great Swamp Watershed, was also held on Oct. 16 regarding
flood mitigation, but the Nov. 13 session on water quality was postponed due to the impact of Hurricane Sandy. The meeting has not been rescheduled at this time.